Chapter 19

G. K. Chesterton's was quoted in this chapter for saying "The woman does not work because the man tells her to work and she obeys. On the contrary, the woman works because she has told the man to work, and he hasn't obeyed." I cracked up when I read this line and found it to be so true. When I think about my mom and our household of six, she is definitely the Alpha parent. Although she is much more passive than my step-father, she is the rule making, trend setter, and enforcer. When things need to get done it is never my step-father asking her to do something, but rather her making sure he does what she asks of him. When it comes to raising the children and running the house, he dares not pretend like he has a say. She leaves the bills and working to him and he leaves the house and kids to her. It seems to suit them as well and winds up working out to all of our benefit. If certain things were left up to my step-father we would probably have eaten grilled steak 5 nights a weeks. There would be less structure, less rules, but more work. Mom tends to keep things well rounded and ensures that there is even responsibility on all of our parts and that each of us contributes to the household and stays on top of our studies and extra curricular activities.